A UA researcher will head a $27 million national clinical study that could lead to developing a way to prevent asthma in young children.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, is funding a study based at the University of Arizona that seeks to find if a naturopathic medicine could prevent asthma in young children.
Dr. Fernando Martinez, director of the UAโs Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center, will oversee the project. The university is collaborating with seven other clinical centers around the country, including Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, for the clinical study.
Asthma is a โhidden tragedy in the United Statesโ and affects 10 percent of all children, Martinez said in an interview.
Children with asthma typically need to take medicine every day.
โWe would really be decreasing the amount of burden for these children for a lifetime,โ Martinez said.
The clinical study would include 1,000 children from 6 to 18 months old who are considered to be at high risk for developing asthma.
The children will be separated into two groups and receive either a preventative medicine or a placebo over the course of two years.
Children who grow up in an environment exposed to bacteria are less likely to develop allergies, said Martinez, who has been studying asthma and its risk factors for more than 20 years.
โThe more youโre exposed to these environmental bacteria that are usually not good, the more the defenses of the body learn how to distinguish friends from foe,โ he said.
But exposing children to live bacteria for the sake of developing asthma or allergy resistance could come at a high risk, so researchers around the world pondered how the process could be replicated without introducing live bacteria.
Despite popular belief that children are more exposed to bacteria and allergens in the inner city, studies have shown that rural areas have more bacteria and allergens, particularly from animals in farms, Martinez said.
In searching for a surrogate for the environmental bacteria found in those farm settings, UA researcher came across a naturopathic powder called Broncho-Vaxom, which is an extract of bacterial species.
Research on Broncho-Vaxomโs effects already exists. Experiments have shown that it โsignificantly blocked allergic responses in animal models,โ Martinez said.
The new study seeks to find out if a Broncho-Vaxom product could lead to preventing asthma in children before they develop it.
โIf we could prevent it, we would really improve significantly the quality of life for a very large number of children in the United States and also abroad,โ he said.
Another principal investigator for the study, Daniel Jackson of the University of Wisconsin, said he sees kids who develop severe chronic asthma, which has a major impact on their daily lives.
The study has huge implications on public health, he said.
โParticipating in a study that has the potential for modifying the risk for these kids is a very exciting thing to be a part of for me,โ he said.
Jackson said Martinez is at the forefront of research in risk factors for asthma.
โHeโs got a stellar reputation,โ he said.
